Higher education enrollment marketing is a challenging proposition because the parameters are constantly changing. As new generations of students look to attend college, institutions have to contend with a continually evolving set of expectations and ways of consuming information.
Especially as recruitment increasingly depends on enrollment marketing, building a comprehensive marketing plan for school enrollment becomes especially relevant. That enrollment plan must demonstrate a complete understanding of the audience, these changing expectations, and a comprehensive plan to address these needs.
In this guide, you'll learn about effective strategies for engaging the next generation of students, driving enrollment growth, and increasing long-term engagement with your current students.
Marketers across industries agree: Gen Z might be the most challenging generation to reach yet. They've grown up with the internet, and they know their way around it -- including identifying and blocking ads.
And yet, Gen Z is a critical audience for colleges and universities. Born between 1997 and 2012, this generation is now between 11 and 26 years old. That means your prospective students, current students, and young and engaged alums are all members of Gen Z.
McKinsey research found that Gen Z primarily searches for truth, which makes them naturally suspicious of anything that seems like advertising. Orienting your enrollment marketing plan around this fact can go a long way toward building more effective marketing channels and outreach efforts.
More than any generation that came before it, Gen Z prefers customized communication specifically relevant to their interests. As a result, an in-depth understanding of your audience is more important than ever to ensure you can build relevant messaging, pushed out at the right time and through the proper channels.
Comprehensive reports like this Gen Z audience profile can get you started. But be sure to build on your own research as well, using surveys and insights from student-facing personnel to better understand who this new generation is and what makes them tick.
Gen Z prefers authentic brands that are believable and connect with them, yet don't overdo it. For your communications and enrollment marketing, that means customized messaging and personalization where possible to create lasting relationships.
Emails from individual campus experts are better than mass emails from a faceless office. The voice should sound less institutional and more like a peer-to-peer relationship. The more you can personalize your marketing efforts, the more likely you'll become to engage with this audience.
Of course, it's not just about pushing out messages to your audience. When they want to learn about your institution, they'll also look to your online presence -- and what they find can make all the difference in how they feel about your school.
In other words, you have to get the user experience right. That means making your website and its navigation as intuitive as possible but also taking a closer look at your other digital channels. Curating a YouTube channel or Instagram profile can go a long way toward engaging your prospective and current students with engaging content.
Interactive and visual content marketing can make that effort even more effective. Gen Z loves video, and they love being able to design their own experiences even more. Platforms that cater to these preferences can go a long way toward reaching and engaging the next generation.
It's time to talk about your MarTech stack. The technologies you use to engage your audience can be just as important as the messages and channels you use to reach them. They have to both account for your audience's preferences and naturally fit into your broader enrollment marketing plan.
Take text messaging as an example. It's not a surprise to say that SMS messages need to be a part of your recruitment effort. But what technologies work best in this arena? Ideally, conversational two-way text messaging systems with built-in auto-responders and admissions counselor redirects will work better than simple platforms designed to push your messages.
The same applies to other marketing-related technologies, as well. A modern CRM, for example, can go a long way toward understanding your audience and optimizing your efforts accordingly. Similarly, influencer marketing platforms can help you strategically leverage another common Gen Z preference.
Of course, the same thing remains true for Gen Z that applies to every other generation: general best practices can only take you so far. Ultimately, if you know where to look, your marketing efforts will provide the biggest and best barometer of your audience's preferences and needs.
Track your marketing efforts, from individual text and email messages to your larger website and social media presence. Identify trends in how prospective students engage with your content and which channels prompt them to action. Then, use those insights to build a strategy designed for ongoing marketing improvements to continue optimizing your strategy and execution.
The next generation is already here. Effectively reaching and engaging Gen Z is vital to your recruitment and retention. And that starts with understanding common preferences within this demographic and executing tactics designed to meet those needs.
It's a lot of work. Fortunately, you don't have to do it on your own. Working with a dedicated higher education marketing team means having a partner on your side.
Ready to get started? Let's chat!
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